1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to self checkout systems and in particular to security features of self checkout systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for enhancing verification of products purchased with self checkout systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Two primary goals in the labor intensive retail merchandiser and supermarket industries are (1) improving customer experience and (2) increasing profit margins by reducing overall (a) product costs and (b) labor costs. While product cost is a factor that is controlled by external forces, improving customer experience and reducing labor costs are controlled by the establishment themselves. With this in mind, one recent, major innovation within these industries has been the introduction of self-checkout systems. These self check-out systems replace and thus reduce the number of cashiers required while substantially reducing and in some cases eliminating the wait time for customer check out.
Several different types of self checkout systems have been developed, each requiring little or no direct customer supervision. It has been found, however, that some customers, realizing this lack of direct supervision (e.g., by a check-out clerk physically monitoring each purchase transaction) may undertake to scam/cheat the checkout system by bagging items not scanned for purchase, etc. Because of the tendency of some customers to cheat the system, several security measures have been introduced in the self checkout systems to reduce the likelihood that the items being bagged by the customer are not the actual items scanned for purchase.
For example, many checkout systems rely on an estimated weight of the product to determine if the product that has been bagged is the product that was that scanned. Thus, when a can of milk is scanned for purchase, the checkout computer provides an estimated weight of the can of milk, e.g., 6 ounces, and the change in the weight of the sack being utilized to bag the items is expected to reflect an approximate 6 ounce increase. One drawback of this method is that smaller items are often not able to change the weight of the sack and the computer assumes the item has not been bagged. Also, oftentimes the sack becomes full and the customer has to remove the sack to begin filling another sack. This removal, however, causes the computer to record an error event and holds up further purchasing of items.
To overcome the above issues with weighing bags of items, some self checkout systems are equipped with a tunnel through which the items are passed (on a conveyor belt) before arriving at the bagging area. While on the conveyor belt, the items is weighed and this weight relayed back to the computer, which verifies that the weight is the same as that of the item purchased. If the measured weight is within a predetermined tolerance of the weight listed for the product in the database, the item is transported to a bagging area and purchasing continues. However, if the weight of the product is not within the tolerance, the conveyor belt may be stopped and/or reversed, and the customer is requested to re-scan the product (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,343). Despite the apparent security of this system, customers occasionally outsmart the weight checking system by placing into the bag or on the conveyor belt a six ounce can of caviar valued at many times the price of a six ounce can of milk.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,676,343, 4,792,018, 5,340,970, and 6,497,362 present systems for operator-unattended checkout with particular concern for detection of customer fraud and deterrence thereof. Other proposals for improving security of these self-checkout systems includes verifying the purchased item visually or via redundant scanning of the item's UPC as the item travels inside the tunnel. However, such a verification mechanism is impractical, and presents a significant implementation challenge as well as substantial costs (bar code scanners, etc.). The solution is impractical because the bar codes will only be readable when passed directly over the verification scanner in the tunnel. Odd shaped items and/or items without a flat bottom/top surface on which the bar code is visible will not be able to be verified with this method. As is known in the art, scanning a UPC requires the item's UPC be placed directly over the scanner. Round items, for example cannot be verified with this method since the item cannot be positioned so that the UPC is in the correct position for scanning. Further, requesting the customer scan an item and then take the time to correctly position the item in the tunnel leads to longer self-checkout process and discourages customers from utilizing the self checkout systems.
What is needed is a cost effective and reliable method for verifying the items being bagged without the limitations of the above methods and without requiring the customer perform any other time intensive tasks that diminishes the customer's experience with the self-checkout systems.